President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. has agreed that the Philippine government will no longer engage with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) Secretary General Menardo Guevarra said on Thursday.
In a statement, Guevarra said he and Marcos discussed the ruling of the ICC to resume the war on drugs investigation.
"[W]e have agreed that our appeal to the ICC appeals chamber is the end of our engagement with the ICC," he said.
"We just really waited for the decision (which we nearly won, 3-2)," the OSG SolGen added.
Earlier, the OSG expressed its dismay at the decision of the ICC to allow its prosecutor to probe the alleged human rights violations and abuses executed during the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs campaign.
It pointed out that the resumption of the probe demonstrated that the Chamber "refused to recognize the Philippine government's primary and sovereign right to investigate serious crimes, in derogation of the complementary principle."
But despite this, some lawmakers welcome the development.
Senator Risa Hontiveros and Act Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro commended the ICC, saying that the ruling is a stepping stone in "attaining justice" for victims and their families and a "significant step towards upholding human rights".
